Star Wars, Last Sentinel
by Bryan Hernandez
Summary: Star Wars : Galan Marek has been frozen in carbon for at least 50 years. He is assisted back to health and set on his course by his long since passed ancestor Bastila Shan. Using the skill set he acquired from both General Rahm Kota and Darth Vader himself, he battles the odds for survival on the unforgiving world of Dagobah


Bryan Hernandez

Short story

**Last Sentinel**

It was particularly quiet on the banks of the swampy waters. A man laid in the short grass. He was just less than 2 meters tall, slim in a way that came from mal nutrition. His breathing was shallow but constant; his eyes flickered as if in the middle of a dream.

Inside his head ghostly images appear, memories that weren't his came and go just as fast. Imagery of towers collapsing under laser cannon fire, and star destroyers over taken by countless star fighters attacking like a swarm of bees. The images slow down and a cold crippling feeling falls over him, a cold emptiness worse than death itself.

His teeth begin to clinch and his face distorts, "urrhh" he grunts out with the little breath he can take in. He consciously tries to wake himself up, but seems to be in an infinite fog.

Inside his mind he travels to a beautiful grassy hill lined with huge redwood trees. Where children play while adults discuss galactic news. His attention is drawn to a little blonde girl standing atop a tall hill that over looked the valley. He stared at this girl with curious eyes. His head tilted left than right "I know this face" he said.

"Hi grandma, I picked these flowers for you, the Nova Orchids are beautiful this year" the little girl said. The man noticed the tombstone the little girl was talking to and began to reposition himself to read the inscription.

_Here lay a hero of the republic, a visionary of the future. A caring and loving mother and teacher _

_She will be missed but never forgotten._

_Juno Eclipse_

"Noooo" the man screamed as a force of energy both lifted his body and incinerated everything around him for 40 meters. The energy was enough to levitate the man, and once the energy dispersed the man came down on his knees hard. He sat on his knees weeping into his palms.

"It can't be, it can't be" the man shouted. "I made my sacrifice for her, it can't be".

"You didn't make your sacrifice for nothing" a woman said from a distance. "She was happy she lived a full life".

The man's head rose quickly "who's there".

It was at this moment that the man realized that he was not only extremely weak, but blind as well.

"I'm blind, what's happened to me," he shouted in anger.

"You're experiencing the side effects of carbonate freezing" the woman's voice said in a calming tone.

"Your strength will come back to you in time".

"And my vision" he said turning his head in the direction of her voice.

"Maybe, you've been frozen a long time"

"How long" he demanded.

There was a pause,

"Just over 4 decades" she said with hurt in her voice.

The man just sat there gazing from side to side, trying to put into prospective what he was being told. His head turned sharply

"who are you" he demanded.

"I am Bastila Shan" she said in a nurturing way, "do you know who you are?"

"Of course I do" the man snaps, "I'm… I'm… Star…" the man searches for the answer.

"Why can't I…."?

He is cut off "It has been a long time, and a lot has happened since you were given the name Marek" she said.

He gazes up in her direction with a sense of security allowing the tension to be released from his shoulders.

"I am Bastila Shan, and you are sole descendent" she said in a maternal tone. "All your answers will come to you in time I promise, but first you must regain your strength".

Marek closed his eyes and extended his awareness to the environment. He began to see a mental blueprint of his surroundings; he took note of the dead zone surrounding him from that energy blast earlier. Beyond the radius of nothing he sensed an explosion of life, flora, fauna, and alien all at the same time. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You are on the swamp world of Dahgoba" she replied.

"I've been here before. A long time ago" he said somberly.

"Yes, and you know how unforgiving this planet can be" she said.

"Marek, you are weak, dehydrated and blind, easy prey for any local predators, you must focus now," she ordered.

Marek rose to his full height and began to stretch out with the force to feel sensation again in his hands than fingertips. He then worked with the dexterity of his ankles and toes. The sensation of thirst was the first to manifest. It was extremely painful, yet Marek was no stranger to pain. He picked up the scent of fresh water somehow hovering above the ground. Marek tilted his head investigating what his senses were telling him.

He moved in the direction of the scent and he realized what he had sensed. "Clean water collecting on the leaves" he said.

"Very good Marek, you are on your path"

He took in as much water as he could, feeling the life come back to his withered body.

It was almost a complete day before the injuries Marek had sustained during carbon sleep got the best of him. It was unclear to him whether he received these injuries during carbon freezeing or from a previous battle; his memory was spotty at best.

Marek could not remember everything but his training was so deeply ingrained in him by his previous masters he knew exactly what to do. His first task would be to put himself into a healing trance. This would not be easy given the condition he was in, which was at the very bottom of the food chain. Marek had 6 broken ribs multiple fractures to both arms as if they were squeezed until the marrow came out of his bone. He also suffered from multiple concussions, but the biggest threat to Marek was the damage to his heart. Due to whatever previous events Marek had been through, the left side of his heart was not receiving adequate oxygenated blood and was dying slowly, he would not make it another day.

With pain only registering as information to his brain, he pushed it aside and began his task. He stretched out with his feelings focusing on any dead organic matter. After his force blast earlier there was abundance, but he needed more. Hour after hour in the silence of the swamp shore he dragged huge pieces of dry dead plant life back to the clearing. He arranged all his gatherings in a circle with a 10-meter diameter.

The sun was setting on the 2nd day, Marek was exhausted and the pain was becoming a cold darkness coming over his consciousness, one that he would not be able to return from if he were to submit. A familiar presence appeared behind him, he instantly turned and simultaneously felt foolish remembering he was still very much blind.

"I was beginning to think you were a hallucination from the pain." Marek said allowing his shoulders to relax once again.

"I've always been here," said Bastila, still in a maternal tone.

"I guess it's hard to pin point one presence, when all I feel are the countless life forms closing down on my position for an easy meal".

"You don't have much time Marek, the life force is almost completely gone from your heart. You must concentrate no mater what you hear going on around you, you must stay focused"

"Focused, right" Marek said.

He collapsed in the middle of the circle, just as the surrounding trees blocked the last rays of light from the sun. He lay still as the dead, allowing the force to push currents of energy over his body like ocean currents.

He took a deep breath in and exhaled with a painful grunt, and released a volley of force lighting from his hands and fingers igniting the circle of kindling he had acquired. The flames grew higher and higher and the sound of creatures running, slithering, and flying away gave him a sense of peace. With the absence of all predators in the area he was able to let himself sink deep into a meditative state, Marek was now completely vulnerable.

The fire burned for several hours, but was not infinite. The fire died down in sections having exhausted its fuel. Smaller predators had left the surrounding area; however there was one very big predator that was not discouraged by the flame, a swamp slug.

The beast was 9 meters long weighing nearly 6 tons, large even by swamp slug standards. Swap slugs are slimy white with 24 sets of small arms and a mouth containing thousands of teeth with the agility of a mammoth. She had picked up on his scent when he had awakened and began her long trek to dine on this unusual meal for this planet.

She crept in slowly into his perimeter, salivating at the anticipation of enjoying the meal she had travel so far for. Marek did not move although aware of her presence he was locked in his own body.

Just as she loomed closer her attention was drawn toward the tree line. Nothing but silence loomed in the air; her antenna searched using sonar to find what was looming in the trees. She found the trespasser and at that very moment it leapt out. It was an old swamp dragon, fangs bared and claws outstretched to dig into her massive body. This older dragon was covered with scares, this was no pup, this was a seasoned fighter who had fought his share of larger predators.

Only a fraction of her weight the dragon relied on his mobility climbing over her digging his 9-inch claws in everywhere he stepped. The slug thrashed as the pain was nearly crippling. The dragon saw his opening; he was close enough to the head to strike, knowing the damage to her antenna would cause her to lose too much blood, thus paralyzing her and allowing him to devour her at his leisure.

The Dragon struck pulling one of her antenna completely off as well as a good portion of tissue. The Slug buck furiously and screamed out a deathly scream, the dragon lost his footing and lost the ability to jump away, a mistake that would cost the dragon everything. The slug rolled her massive body, her weight came down on the old fighter breaking every rib the creature had, unable to scream out due to the fact that his lungs were punctured and crushed. The slug rolled and squirmed as it bled out, nearly crushing Marek in the process. The slug slowly and painfully died turning side to side.

Despite the fact that this slug had traveled a great distance to feed on Marek, as her life force left her massive body Marek could not help but feel compassion. The dragon lay very still just a meter away from Marek so close he could touch him with his tongue. Both were paralyzed Marek and the dragon, the only difference being the dragon was conscious.

The fog was especially dense this morning, which delayed the sunrise by several hours. The dragon laid by Mareks' side breathing shallow every painful breath. Mareks' hand began to move, first his fingers curled than more movement and more movement.

Marek rose to his full height, his sight had not returned to him but his perception was crystal clear through use of the force. He was completely healed, he stretch his limbs with the joy of feeling blinding pain whenever he did so. His connection to the force had significantly increased as well for the first time in almost 50 years Marek was ready to face the galaxy again.

His attention was drawn to the dragon laying on the ground at his feet. He knelt down putting his hand on the old dragons head.

"Easy boy" Marek said

" You saved my life last night, I realize not intentional, but I am grateful just the same."

Marek tilted his head in concentration.

"Go with the force my friend."

With that the animal closed it eyes and took its last breath. Despite being blind Marek still released a single tear in mourning of the old fighter. He reached in the dragon's mouth and with augmented strength from the force he ripped out the dragons 2 largest K9 teeth each almost a third of a meter long and razor sharp.

"You will fight with me from now on, my friend."

It had been 3 months since that epic night, and Marek had grown stronger, not just in the force but in physical prowess. He still was wearing the clothes he woke up in, a worn down tunic with no sleeves and rugged flight cargo pants. He was also, easily 18 kg heavier then when he woke up, all was solid muscle. He had spent his days solely training his body and his mind, Marek had purposely disconnected himself from the force so as to become more powerful to boot.

"The living force gives you strength," a voice said of to the side. "You must become alive, to do this bring you body and mind into the arena at the same time."

Marek, still blind wears a piece of material to covers his eyes, never the less he paned his head left to right getting a feel for the terrain. His vision was monochromatic black and blue he saw everything with his minds eye.

Once he achieved a sense of the landscape in front of him he crotch ever so slightly and exploded from the ground. With force-augmented speed he dash between a maze of exotic trees, which contained extremely poisonous barbs. Marek never hesitated for a sec he flew by these barbs as if he had rehearsed this dance all his life for this one performance. This was not the case Marek was merely exploring more of his surroundings.

In the distance a vine leopard sensed his approach. Vine leopard hunt in packs weighing between 40 and 70 kg, what these predators lacked in size they make up for in sheer speed. Some of these creatures can reach up to 80 kilometers an hour, adept at hunting some of Dagobha's fastest birds of prey, and now they had Marek in their sight. 3 males rushed full speed at Marek; they were far off but are closing fast using their impressive speed. With the use of his minds eye Marek has the ability to register the threat immediately as if he were looking down on the scenario. Marek changed course instead of ascending the mountain he changed his path to run on flat ground this allowed him to increase his own speed. The three leopards were behind him now only 90 meters or so away and closing in, although, surprised by the speed of the man, they continued full speed. Marek's course was no accident, it was deliberate, ahead about 50 meters there was a drop off, a canyon that was a 150 meters across separating one mountain from another, a distance to far even for a jade to leap unassisted. Still in full stride Marek reached behind him pulling the 2 Swamp dragon K9's from a pouch. He took one in each hand, both attached to a long rope made of swamp slug intestine. Simultaneously with incredible speed he launched the teeth into two trees ahead and to the side of his path. As the leopards were about to strike, Marek tugged with all his might and launched himself into the air over the canyon. The leopards struggled to stop in time so as not to go over the edge; they came to a stop and growled loudly at their escaped prey.

Marek landed on the other side of the canyon. Using the force, he summed the K9's and rope back to him and secured them in a knot on his back. Without missing a stride he walked up the mountain. After a few seconds his breathing was back to normal, over the past few months Marek had come across every predator this planet had to offer, and out running a few leopards was nothing. He reached the summit of the mountain just as the sun was setting. Marek saw blues so bright they looked white the closest he would see of a sunset. The white was slowly being blanketed by the black of night. Marek took in the beauty of it all, breathed in life giving oxygen, he was at peace here, he knew what to expect and he respected the life force on the swamp world. Although almost every predator had hunted him on this planet he never once killed any creature neither in self-defense nor for food. Marek could not find it in him to kill an animal on this world, this world was perfect the way it was, Marek was at peace.

"I can sense your sorrow" Marek said.

"Your journey is not over I'm afraid" said Bastila behind Marek.

"What will you have me do, kill, why for the sake of killing" Marek asked "Should I pick a side, countless régime changes have taken place, this is not even my time, what am I expected to do"

Just as Marek had said this, his attention was drawn down the mountain. A ship recently landed with its cargo doors opened 9 men dressed in robes all the same color with their hoods up emerged from the ship. And for the first time Marek had seen a color other than blue, it was red menacing and powerful red. Mareks teeth ground in a primal gesture.

"The Sith have returned to the Galaxy" Bastila said

"They've always been here, just no one wanted to see them," Marek rebutted.

"The ebb and flow of the force is in chaos, the dark side has struck and none are safe now, you must find her and you must train her, you must find a way"

"Who" Marek replied

"The Grand daughter of the one who originally trained you your first master, Lord Vader"

Marek raised his head towards the sky, pulled off the wrap covering his eyes. Colors, contrast and shadow came to his vision he could see.

"Alana"


End file.
